Due November No 2

[eidsvold]

sorry for being presumptuous enough to start a new thread but I had so much to catch up on and fill you in on...

hiya all - finally settled and have pc at home!! Singapore was wonderful if exhausting. The heat took a lot out of me but it was great to have the break before we headed into the move again. We are in our house and settled - almost unpacked - just books and non essentials left to sort out.

had my first real ante natal appt last week - found a great GP - very approachable and very pro - woman's choice re: everything - amount and type of testing - I had three hospitals to choose from. She then did a proper antenatal consultation and I got to hear the baby's heart beat - great I also have my referral for my scan but have yet to have a date.

Halfway( 20 weeks) today - EDD is 5th November.

Over here the antenatal care is either shared between the GP and the hospital consultant or is all hospital based - there are a couple of midwife led birthing units but very hard to get into - done by ballot system and at this late stage no way I would even get a look in.

Gp was brilliant - took all I had to tell her about last pregnancy in her stride and rather than preaching and assuming what I wanted ( like the GP and midwife in UK) she asked me what I wanted.

Unlike the UK - homebirths are extremely rare - I have decided to have a hospital birth in the major hospital for the state - should anything like last time happen again I am right there rather than having to be transferred or having the baby transferred.

Now I just have to wait for them to get back to me with an anomaly scan date. Hopefully all being well - next week.

Glad to hear all is well with everyone else - baby is moving and heard it swishing around whilst the GP was trying to hear the heartbeat. Definitely in maternity clothes now - got some good jeans from George/ASDA before we left.

Take care....

hi webmum its with me for the duration of the pregnancy then ive got to do more tests 8 weeks after ive had babe to see if its gone

eidsvold..your dd sounds so sweet.

plantpot, sorry to hear about the gestational diabetes. Why are you finding the testing no fun - is it because the finger pricking is painful? Some of the prickers are adjustable so you can set them so they don't go in very deeply which is a bit less unpleasant (although obviously you might find you don't get enough blood unless you set it to go deeper, IYSWIM). Are you controlling it by diet at the moment? Have you seen a dietitian? Sorry, loads of questions! Hope you're not feeling too overwhelmed by it all (when my dh was diagnosed with diabetes I felt really depressed...he took it all in his stride though!).

Hi collision, good news about the epidurals!

i eat at stupid times (my own fault i know) i had tea at about 9pm so i check bloods two hours later (i usually go to bed for 10)so i will have to get into a better routine my needle pen thingy is on the highest setting as none of the other ones seem to give much blood (ouch) i will see the dietecian next week when i go to hospital for my check up the m/w explained it all to me but i dont know how much i took in iyswim for the past two days my luchtime bloods have been high the m/w said i should be between 4-8 mondays were 9.2 todays are 10.9 she never told me what to do if i got a high result i feel ok but its still worrying

Hi,
jumped over here then!!
Glad your move went well Eidsvold, is it Oz you're in? Lucky you! Are things very different there with AN care? We're in Belgium and so far the only difference has been the newness and fantastically equipped natural birthing room v. unlike the 1970's grot I birthed in in the UK!! WOW!

They also tested my bloods, unbeknown to me, for Downs back at around 12 weeks. My nuchal fold came out fine, but the bloods put me in a high risk category. I decided against the amnio as my dh and I felt we would deal better with a Down's child than a termination. But what I wanted to check was that on all the websites I've looked at, it says that the triple test and the other test they can do must only be carried out at something like 16 - 18 week or another period which I can't remember now and NOT at 12 weeks as it will give an inaccurate answer?? Does anyone know anymore about this??

The baby now has a rhythm of movement at around 9pm each night and about 4pm too! My scan is at 22 weeks here, where they will do a very detailed scan to check if there are any soft or hard markers. I hope I'll be able to find out the sex!! already have two boys and would like a little pink, although blue is absolutely fine too!

Went on a tour of the hospital last night and now I can't wait!!

Hear from you all soon

plantpot, yes it can be a pain at times and I know it's not that nice. I occasionally get dh to check mine and I really hate it. It may be worth experimenting with different fingers and places to prick as some may yield more blood than others (I'll ask dh if he has any tips). There was a thread about gestational diabetes recently, did you see it? It's here (although TBH I am a little surprised about the dietary advice mummyintexas was given, but since you'll be seeing a dietitian you'll be able to discuss that with him/her). Are you keeping a food diary? We kept one to show dh's dietitian which was quite useful as she could comment about specific aspects of dh's diet. He can eat almost anything he wants really, it's more to do with a pattern of eating than anything else (e.g. sweet things only after a meal).

Re what to do if you get high results, I think you should be seeing someone to discuss the results fairly soon and if not I'd ask your m/w about it. If you can't get good control by diet alone you'll have to go on insulin but I don't know how high the blood glucose would have to be before they decide that's necessary. Don't worry too much about individual high results, it's the overall picture that matters. I should think they'd want you to collect some data over a few weeks and then review you fairly soon. Hopefully they'll explain more when you go to the hospital next week.

arwenevenstar, I think you are right in that some of the blood tests are supposed to be done around 16 weeks but not sure of details.

arwenevenstar - from my reading and research last time ( was in transit this time so did not have those blood tests done) they alone are not very reliable anyway - between 40 and 50% - if that is any help.

The an care is different to the UK - homebirths are very very rare... in fact unheard of!! HOwever they have a number of midwife led units that assist with low risk births and one of those units is in the hospital where I will be giving birth. Unfortunately due to its popularity - places are appointed on a ballot system and as I have not even been booked in - no way I would get a place.

I had three public hospitals to choose from and chose the main state - big hospital - just in case anything happened ( last time had an emergency caesarean and dd ( with heart defect) was in scbu for three weeks) easier done at the Royal Woman's Hospital than at a local hospital which would simply transfer me.

I could also choose my care - all hospital based or shared care between my GP and the hospital. A named obstetrician that I may or may not see. I have opted for shared care - no reason for all hospital based...much easier to get to the docs down the road than into the hospital for every hospital.

Am still using my antenatal book from the UK but will request a pregnancy health book from the Doctor when I go for an appointment later this week. Be interested to see what it is like.

They only do the 18 - 20 week scan here unless there is some reason to do an early scan - so no dating scans here like in the UK.

The Royal Woman's had a major facelift and development and so is all new and lovely - from what I could see at scan appt.

Sorry to ramble on - hope that gives you something to compare with.

i think the 16 - 18 week tests are the ones that check for immunity to Rubella, and if the mother has Hepatitises, aids, syphillis and so on. ( they are the ones listed in my little book for that time frame.)

Sorry plantpot - no help on the diabetes front. Just agree with ginger nut that perhaps if you get a high reading it would be worth speaking to someone - definitely something to check with the midwife.

arwenevenstar

I had my nuchal and blood tests at between 12 and 14 weeks, can't remember exactly when, but I'm sure it's usually be done before 14 weeks.

Plantpot, sorry to hear that, hope you'll get the hang of it and it won't hurt so mcuh anymore!!

the baby is moving around quite a lot now, especially when I'm eating, which is quite funny

Sorry to hear about your diabetes PP, I had the gluconse blood tests but was fine luckily. GD is very treatable though and does normally disappear once the baby has been born so hopefully you can put it all behind you in 5 months time.

I'm feeling very good now the mw has just been and my urine is fine now, my blood pressure down andthe babys heartbeat is perfect. The longer I go on wihtout incident the more confident I feel. In fact, if my anomoly scan is all good next week I shall realy relax and enjoy my pg.

Arwenevenstar, when I got a bad nuchal result I did loads of research and found most screening tests give lots of false positives, esp the blood tests. I really wouldnt worry too much especially as they were done at the wrong time.

arwenevenstar - just also wanted to say that my dd ( almost 2) was born with Down's syndrome so if there is anything you want to ask - feel free..

HI all thanks for your kind words after my stressing the other day - I have decided to tell my sister on the telephone and let her take the lead that way if she makes me feel bad I can pass the phone to DP and he can deal with her!!

Anyway - was terribly worried yesterday as my little bay didn;t seem to move all day but as I got into bed last night he started and went on for 3 hours - gggrrr - could probably have slept but love feeling him soo much that I just layed there!! - DP has felt him now too and he was thrilled.

Anomoly Scan on Monday at Kings - remember the one we had with DD and it was the biggest weight off my mind ever so am planning a little glass of wine if all goes well on Monday!! Aren't going to take DD but will take her to local hospital for 23 week scan!

Glad to hear the rest of you are ok, especially you Bunny but soprry to hear about your GD PP!!

Hi Twinkie, good to hear form you - I m so glad that you have such fantastic baby movements! I have to lie absolutely still to detect mine and even then it is difficult. I blame my fat stomach (it was fat pre-pregnancy )
I am going to have a drink after my scan on Tuesday too - in fact might buy a small bottle of Champagne. Then I am going to CHILL till November

Hi,
Thanks for all your replies.

Eidsvold - thanks for your offer and will let you know if I need anymore info.

WIll keep popping in
Good luck with the forthcoming scans etc xx

ty all for your support im due my scan next week so hopefully all will be well baby is moving around mostly at night getting some good kicks just as im dozing off to sleep

Hi everyone.
Sorry to hear you news plant pot. Hopefully you'll get to see someone soon and have all you questions answered.

Well I am supposed to be in bed after my night shift but made the terrible mistake of opening the post when I got up for a wee, bad news! A debt collecting company saying I owe my old gas and electric company over £200! Tried to go back to sleep but it was worrying me, I knew nothing about this, having so say settled my accounts nearly a year ago when I moved out.

They were an p**sing awful company to deal with anyway, setting up two accounts in my name, for the upstairs flat as well, and had to be reminded I didn't live in both, oh, about 3 times a year! Nightmare. Not the sort of thing I need, being threatened to pay up in 7 days or have the baliffs with no other letter informing me of this bill before! And we are trying so hard to save money for baby things and maybe an extra month off work...

Sorry not pregnancy things but I'm back at work tonight so I kind of hoped it would be therapuetic to write all this down so I might stop worrying about it and go back to sleep. Not feeling likely at the moment. Bugger.

Samcj - are you sure the bills are down to you though - make sure they are for gas and leccy you have used and not their bugger up!!

Yes Samj

check the dates make sure they do not relate to after you've moved out!!!

There are no dates, just a threatening baliffs letter. Haven't had any letters telling me I owe any money for anything! They are looking into it, but I don't have much faith, they have messed up so much in the past.

sorry to hear that Sammyjc - hopefully they will find it is all a mistake

Hi All - just a quick one.... I've got my scan today, and I'm really really nervous about it, don't remember feeling like this with DD I hope it's just paranoia!

Sorry about your troubles Samcj and plantpot!

Good luck with you scan Panda Bear! Make sure you tell us all about it later, sure you will be fine! I'll let you know how I get on with my bill, they phoned when I was at work last night, despite me telling them I was not available till this afternoon as I was on nights...grrr! x

Good Luck Panda Bear - I am sure everything will be fine but will be thinking of you none the less. XXX

Everything is fine.. baby is normal and was even drinking and waving at us!!! It was all very exciting and I got a bit emotional. Baby has long legs and a fat tummy.... just like it's mum

good news pandabear!!

Oooohhhh Panda Bear - how terribly exciting for you - feel all warm and gooey insdie now thinking of how lovely it is to see them ont he screen.

So glad that everything is fine.

Twinkie XXX